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Welcome to
THUMBS UP GARDEN CARE
the CHICKS that DIG the DIRT!
Located in the beautiful Mansfield Shire
We are also happy to travel for the right job.
Discover more about our professional services and find what’s right for you. There’s a lot to dig through, so please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or to request a free quote.
About THUMBS UP GARDEN CARE
WE ARE THE CHICKS THAT DIG THE DIRT!
Thumbs Up Garden Care isn’t your average landscaping business.
We’re Nicole & Michelle — the two women behind the machines, the ideas and the hard work that goes into every Thumbs Up project.
Established in 2006, we’ve grown from our garden-care beginnings into a specialised landscaping, excavation and earthworks business, taking on everything from complete property transformations to the steep, awkward and challenging jobs that others often shy away from.
And if there’s one thing we love, it’s a challenge.
BIG IDEAS. BIG MACHINES. SERIOUS ATTENTION TO DETAIL.
With more than 35 years of combined industry experience, we bring together practical knowledge, creativity, machinery and a genuine eye for detail to create outdoor spaces that don’t just look great — they work.
We specialise in sloping and difficult blocks, where smart earthworks can completely change how a property is used.
Whether that means carving usable areas from a hillside, building natural rock retaining walls and steps, reshaping a driveway, solving drainage problems, preparing sites, moving serious amounts of earth or transforming an entire landscape, we love looking at a property and seeing the potential in it.
Our work includes:
• Excavation & earthworks
• Natural rock, concrete & sleeper retaining walls
• Driveway construction, resurfacing & repairs
• Drainage, spoon drains & culverts
• Site cuts, levelling & land clearing
• Sloping & difficult-access properties
• Garden construction & complete landscape transformations
• Turf & synthetic turf
• Rural property improvements
TWO WOMEN. ONE TEAM. NO HANDBALLING YOUR JOB.
One of the biggest differences with Thumbs Up is simple:
The people you meet are the people who do the work.
We’re a hands-on team of two. From the first conversation and planning through to operating the machinery, building, shaping and putting the finishing touches on your project, Nicole and Michelle are there doing it.
That means your project doesn’t disappear through layers of salespeople, supervisors and subcontractors.
We know what was discussed.
We know what the vision is.
And we take personal pride in seeing it through.
We have different strengths, different perspectives and probably more than a few spirited discussions about the best way to tackle something — but that combination is exactly what makes us such a strong team.
WE DON’T JUST MOVE DIRT — WE TRANSFORM PROPERTIES.
Some of our favourite projects start with a customer saying:
“We don’t know what we can do with this.”
That’s where we come alive.
We love finding practical solutions to awkward levels, steep slopes, poor drainage, tired driveways and outdoor areas that simply aren’t being used to their potential.
Our goal isn’t to force every property into the same cookie-cutter design. We work with the land, the surroundings and what our customers actually need to create something functional, attractive and built to last.
From a few tonnes of rock to a complete property transformation, we approach every job with the same philosophy:
Do it properly. Take pride in it. And leave behind something we’d be happy to have at our own place.
PROUDLY SERVICING COUNTRY VICTORIA
Based in the Mansfield Shire, we work throughout Mansfield, Jamieson, Bonnie Doon, Mountain Bay and surrounding areas, as well as projects further afield throughout regional Victoria.
Got a challenging block?
A driveway that’s seen better days?
A slope you thought was unusable?
Or an idea you’re not quite sure how to bring to life?
Give the CHICKS that DIG the DIRT a call.
We might just see possibilities you hadn’t considered.
Thumbs Up Garden Care
The CHICKS that DIG the DIRT! 👍🏻
Meet the CHICKS that DIG the DIRT!
Two chicks. Two Staffies. A shed full of machinery. And a serious love of transforming dirt.
Behind Thumbs Up Garden Care are Nicole & Michelle — business partners, best mates, occasional on-site debaters and the two women you’ll actually find getting their hands dirty on your project.
We’re not the type to stand around pointing at what needs to be done.
We’re the ones doing it.
And while we work together on everything, over the years we’ve each developed a few specialties…
NICOLE — THE POSI TRACK QUEEN 👑
Put Nicole behind the controls of the Posi Track and she’s in her happy place.
What she can do with a machine has to be seen to be appreciated. She has an incredible feel for levels, contours and how the land needs to flow — whether she’s cutting into a difficult slope, reshaping a driveway, preparing a site, spreading material or turning a rough, unusable piece of ground into something that suddenly makes sense.
Watching her work, you could be forgiven for thinking the Posi Track is an extension of her arms.
Smooth. Precise. Fast. And bloody good at it.
Nicole has that knack for looking at a block and visualising what it could be — and then using the machines to make it happen.
Give her dirt to move, a problem to solve and enough room to fire up the Posi…
She’s a very happy chick.
MICHELLE — ROCK WHISPERER & RESIDENT PERFECTIONIST 🪨
Then there’s Michelle.
Give her a pile of mudrock and she’ll probably spend far too long looking at individual rocks, turning them around and deciding exactly where each one belongs.
But there’s a reason for it.
Michelle has an eye for detail and a real passion for constructing natural mudrock retaining walls, steps and features that look like they belong in the landscape.
It’s not simply stacking rocks.
Every piece has a face. Every rock has a position. Levels matter. Lines matter. The way one rock meets the next matters.
And yes… she will move a rock again if it’s annoying her.
The result is the kind of natural stonework we’re incredibly proud to put our name to — strong, functional and full of character.
If Nicole is happiest moving the earth, Michelle is happiest figuring out how to hold it back beautifully.
AND THEN THERE’S MANAGEMENT… 🐾
No introduction to the Thumbs Up team would be complete without our two most important staff members:
SPROCKET & RIVER — Site Supervisors, Quality Control Officers & Chief Morale Managers.
Our two English Staffies are a huge part of our lives and, whenever the job allows, a pretty important part of the Thumbs Up crew too.
Their qualifications are extensive.
They specialise in supervising from comfortable positions, inspecting freshly moved dirt, monitoring smoko breaks, greeting approved visitors and ensuring Nicole and Michelle maintain acceptable workplace morale.
Their actual contribution to productivity remains under investigation.
Their contribution to our lives?
Immeasurable. ❤️
They’re our boys, our shadows and part of the family behind Thumbs Up.
DIFFERENT STRENGTHS. ONE PRETTY AWESOME TEAM.
The truth is, Thumbs Up works because we complement each other.
One of us might see how the land needs to be shaped. The other sees how the finished details need to come together.
We bounce ideas off each other, challenge each other, laugh a lot, occasionally disagree about whose way is better — and somewhere in amongst all of that, some pretty amazing projects get built.
We’re proud of the reputation we’ve built, but we never want Thumbs Up to become a faceless company.
We want our customers to feel comfortable calling us, throwing ideas around with us and asking questions.
No salespeople. No fancy corporate carry-on. No disappearing once the quote is signed.
Just Nicole, Michelle, Sprocket & River — a small, hands-on team that genuinely loves what we do and takes enormous pride in every project that carries the Thumbs Up name.
So if you see two chicks in work boots, a Posi Track humming away, Michelle obsessing over a rock and a couple of Staffies supervising proceedings…
You’ve found the CHICKS that DIG the DIRT! 👍🏻🐾
Client Testimonials
